


They Never Asked for This

by free_cookiesx



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Dancing, exactly what it says on the tin folks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 23:40:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29286921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/free_cookiesx/pseuds/free_cookiesx
Summary: Niki and Jack avoid getting adopted. Puffy thinks that two kids shouldn't have to work through their anger with violence.
Relationships: Jack Manifold & Niki | Nihachu, platonic ya nasties
Comments: 3
Kudos: 34





	They Never Asked for This

**Author's Note:**

> it's not my best but it's the first completed thing i've done all year and i'm too tired to care about the fine details 
> 
> i am absolutely a niki and jack apologist and you can pry them out of my cold dead hands

_Jack puts on a music disc. Purple and white, purple and white spin around in a circle. Niki looks at him, and he holds out his hand._

"Give me your hand, Jack," Niki mumbled. Jack groaned from where he lay on his bed as Niki sat on it, reaching for his arm and pulling it closer to her. She surveyed the damage- nothing too severe, but she decided to bandage it just in case. 

Jack winced as she pulled the strips of cloth a little too tight, but pressure was necessary, she reasoned. She finished, sealing the bandage with a fancy knot. 

"This should hold until we can get a healing potion to you. I can probably get one from Ghostbur, if he has any, but if not you'll have to wait until I can brew one myself." 

"That's okay." Jack forced himself into a sitting position and twisted his arm, looking at it intently. "You did a good job." 

"Thank you." Niki stood up and brushed her skirt off, glancing at Jack and silently judging his disheveled state. "You need sleep. And after that, a shower." 

Jack laughed weakly. "Don't I know it. Can you turn off the light as you leave?" 

Niki nodded and turned away, flicking off the lever as she went. 

_Niki and Jack have a dance they like to do to the tune of Mellohi. The slow, sweeping song is perfect to waltz to, and they took every chance to teach themselves the steps to the dance._

Puffy stood outside of the door, her hand in a fist in preparation to knock. As Niki looked at her from the inside she laughed awkwardly and lowered her hand. She took the edge of her sleeve and fiddled with it, gathering her thoughts as Niki glared at her. 

"Niki. I need to talk to you and Jack, if that's okay. It's important." 

Niki looked Puffy up and down. She was nervous, and she could see her hands shaking from where they were 

"Jack is upstairs. He's recovering from an arm injury and he needs his rest. Whatever you want to say to us, I can relay the message." 

Puffy looked at her and tilted her head, shedding her outer cloak and hanging it on a hook in the wall. "I don't think you can, with this one." 

_Niki usually likes to take the lead on dances, but on this one she thinks she can let Jack have a turn. He twirls her around with ease, much easier than she could do with him. They dance together in slow circles around their shared kitchen, taking care to avoid countertops and tables._

Niki sat Puffy down in the living room, the couch stiff with disuse. Niki herself sat in a chair across from her, the fireplace roaring behind her. It casted an ominous shadow throughout the room that she enjoyed, especially after seeing the hesitation on Puffy's face. 

"Niki, I'd like to take you and Jack in. Just for a little bit. No fighting, no nothing." 

That takes Niki by surprise. Why would Puffy want to have her and Jack stay at her house? There wasn't any reason for her to do so, nothing to cause this dramatic, out-of-nowhere twist. So she asks. 

"Why?" 

Puffy took a deep breath before she continued. "I want to take care of you. You two have been in the middle of war since day _one_ on this server, and you deserve better than that, I think." 

Niki sighed and made a show of stretching languidly. "There's really no time for that on the server, you know," she said with a crafted smile. "Things are always headed for war, it seems. You yourself are caught up in the blood vines." 

Puffy shifted uncomfortably and Niki was content to let her do so for a time.

 _The most fun part of their dancing, Niki thinks, is the repetition. Through their little dance they can forget about everything, just focus on the_ step _-two-three,_ step _-two-three. The Mellohi drifting through the room from the jukebox in the corner, the wooden floors under her feet, everything was all neat and tidy for them to dance and to forget and to_ breathe _without interruption._

"Niki, you and Jack are _children_. You're barely nineteen and Jack is even _younger_ , don't you see that-" 

"We are fully capable of making choices for ourselves." 

"I never said you weren't." 

Niki stood up and glared at Puffy. "We don't want your help. Is there anything else you need from us?" 

Puffy spread her hands in a placating motion and stood up as well, her figure making Niki shrink back a little even though she was shorter. "All I'm asking is that you come stay with me for a little bit. A week, a few days. Come stay someplace where you're not constantly on edge, Niki. It would do you some good, I bet." 

Niki scoffed. Puffy sighed and walked closer to her, cupping her face with her hand. Niki hated the way she curled in on it, pressing her face into the calloused hand of someone who should have been the enemy in the moment. 

"Look at you. You're so exhausted. Wouldn't it feel better to have someone take the reins for a few days?" 

Despite herself, Niki _wanted_ to say yes. She was so tired from all the fighting, from the bloodshed, and she just wanted things to go back to the way they _were_ , and- 

And that was why they had to kill Tommy. That was right. She had nearly forgotten about him in her argument with Puffy. 

She pulled away from the warm hand, and relished in the pain that came from seeing Puffy's eyes shine with unshed tears. She put even more distance between her and Puffy by taking steps away, closer to the door. 

"Puffy, if you do not have any other business with me, I would like you to get out of my house, please." Her voice was cold and unfeeling, something she couldn't bring herself to care about. She carefully held a stony face, keeping her guard up as Puffy slipped on her cape and opened the door. 

Niki watched as Puffy's form shook, and she could tell that Puffy was feeling a lot of emotion. It wasn't her problem, she told herself, and made sure that Puffy's hands didn't float towards a concealed weapon. 

"Goodbye, Niki." Puffy said. She walked outside, only making it a few feet before turning around and giving her final message. "I hope you consider my offer." 

Niki grits her teeth and sends Puffy away with a smile and a wave. 

_They reach the climax of the song, if you could even call it that. There's nothing but a looping melody of sharps and flats to indicate the haunting melody's close, and they spin and spin and though their movements are more dramatic they do not become any faster, patiently choosing to wait until the music ends to go back to their normal speed._

The next morning Niki makes pancakes. Jack comes down, his eyes blurry with sleep, and they share a moment of near-poignant silence. 

"Did I hear someone over last night?" 

"It was just Puffy. She just needed to borrow a book." 

_Jack dips Niki, and-_

_End scene._

**Author's Note:**

> if you made it this far, thank you, and please look at my other works featuring: touch starved technoblade, a wilbur redemption fic, and podcast crossovers 
> 
> please tell me if this breaks anyone's boundaries! :)


End file.
